Power operated fan



Jan. 10, 1939. HQBSQN 2,143,070

POWER OPERATED FAN Filed April 29, 1937 2 Shfits-Sh eet l Jan. 10', 1939. B.F.H BSN 2, 3 0

. POWER OPERATED FAN Filed April 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application April 29,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to fans and particularly to motor operated fans and the general object of the invention is the provision of a fan of a relatively simple construction which is operated by means of a spring motor mounted upon the fan casing or body, thus permitting the fan as a whole to be carried from. place to place and used wherever desired.

Another object is to provide a rotary fan which does not need to be connected with any source of power exterior to the fan body itself.

A further object is to provide means whereby the power of the spring motor may be transmitted to the rotatable fan and whereby the speed of the fan may be controlled in accordance with individual circumstances.

A still further object is to provide a fan of this character with very simple means whereby the fan body may be oscillated on an axis at right angles to the axis of the fan itself or whereby the fan may be held from oscillation.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction and arrangement of parts as more specifically pointed out hereafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a vertical sectional view through a fan constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a detailed fragmentary plan view of the rod used when it is desired to oscillate the fan body.

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view partly in elevation of the gearing between the spring motor and the fan.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the worm and worm wheel whereby the spring motor may be wound Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through the casing of the spring motor and a portion of the spring.

Figure '7 is a section through the arbor of the spring motor and a portion of the spring.

Referring to these drawings and particularly to Figure 1, l designates a base having the form of a truncated cone, the periphery of the base at the lower edge thereof being provided with the feet l i. The top of the base is flat at [2 and disposed therethrough is a bushing l3, which supports the vertical shaft 14, which in turn supports the yoke 55 upon which the body or casing I6 is pivoted at [1.

The body or casing is hollow and is preferably formed of sheet metal. The casing may be en tirely closed or may be skeletonic in form as de- 1937, Serial No. 139,787

sired. Disposed within the casing is an arbor 13 which is mountedat one end in a bearing [9, as shown in Figure 1. The other end of this arbor is mounted in a bearing formed in a vertical partition plate 20. The inner extremity of this arbor is formed with an axial recess 2 I. Surrounding the arbor and concentric thereto is a spring drum or barrel 22 which is rotatably mounted upon the arbor. Engaged at one end with the arbor and at the other end with the drum 22 is a coiled motor spring 23. One end of this spring extends out through the drum 22, as shown in Figure 6, and is formed with a bead 24. Any other suitable means for connecting this spring to the drum may be used. The inner end of the spring, as shown in Figure 7, is connected to the arbor la in any suitable manner, as for instance, by indenting the arbor and indenting the spring to fit within the indentation of the arbor. These indentations are designated 25. Mounted upon the arbor I8 is a worm wheel 26 engaged by a worm 21 mounted upon a transverse shaft 28 disposed in bearings 29. The shaft 28 extends out through the casing l6 and is provided with any suitable means whereby the shaft 28 may be rotated by hand to cause the winding up of the spring 23. The drum or barrel 22 is formed at its inner end with the internal gear 23 This meshes with a pinion 3|] carried upon a shaft 30 which extends through the' partition 20, and at its forward end is mounted in a hearing or otherwise rotatably supported, as at 3|, in a front plate 32 attached to or forming part of the casing 16.

Mounted upon the shaft 30 is a gear wheel 33 which meshes with an elongated pinion 34 carrying at one end the gear wheel 35. This pinion 34 with its gear wheel 35 is mounted loosely upon a shaft 36. The gear wheel 35 meshes with an elongated pinion 31 mounted upon the shaft 30, this pinion 31 in turn having a large gear wheel 38 which meshes with a somewhat elongated pinion 39 carrying a unitary gear wheel 48, this pinion and gear wheel being mounted upon the shaft 36. The gear wheel 40 engages with a pinion mounted upon a shaft 42 which is the shaft upon which the fan blades 43 are mounted. It will be seen from Figure 3 that the rear end of the shaft 42 is formed to engage within the recess 2| and to rotate within this recess, this recess in the forward end of the shaft I8 acting as a bearing for the rear end of the shaft 42, the forward end of this shaft being supported in a bearing 44 formed in the wall 32.

It will be seen that the several pinions and gear wheels hertofore described constitute a speed multiplying means so that the shaft 42 will rotate at a high speed relative to the rotation of the barrel 22.

Attention is called to the fact that in order to avoid friction as much as possible, the shaft 30 is provided with the two collars 45 and 46, the inner ends of which are beveled or conical in form, as at 41, so that these inner pointed ends of the two collars 45 and 46, respectively, bear against the partition 20 and against the end of the pinion and gear wheels 31 and 38. These collars hold the shaft in exact position but reduce the frictional engagement between these rotating collars and the parts against which they bear. The collars are shown as being held in place by means of screws 48 whereby they may be adjusted to take up wear. The shaft 36 is also provided with a collar 49 held in place by a set screw, this collar having a beveled or tapered end 50 bearing against the face of the combined gear wheel and pinion 39 and 4|]. A like collar 5I is disposed upon the shaft 36 and bears against the plate 32, and a like collar 52 is mounted upon the shaft 30 and bears against the septum 32, thus reducing friction as much as possible. The collar 52 carries upon it a beveled gear wheel 53 which is engaged by a complementary beveled gear wheel 54 in turn mounted upon a transversely extending shaft 55 having a crank 56. This shaft 55 extends through the wall of the casing I6 and is rotatably supported in a bracket 51. Collars 58 having tapered extremities are disposed upon the shaft 55 and bear against this bracket on each side thereof, thus holding the shaft in place but reducing friction just as much as possible. The shaft 55 is for the purpose of causing the oscillation of the casing I6 and, therefore, I have provided the outwardly projecting arm 59 which is detachably supported upon the base I0 by the screw 60, this arm being formed with a slot 6| through which the crank 56 extends. Obviously when the machine is operated, the shaft 55 will be constantly revolving, and its crank acting in the slot 6I will cause the oscillation of the fan casing I6 upon the shaft I4. It will be noted also that this shaft I4 is provided with two bearing collars 62 and 63 which are tapered, as before described, and bear against opposite ends of the bushing I3. A like bearing collar 64 is mounted upon the shaft 42 outward of the plate 32 and bears against this plate. In Fig. 3, the pinions 34, 31 and 39 are elongated to permit the longitudinal adjustment of these pinions upon the shaft to take up wear. The length of these pinions is exaggerated in the drawings for the purpose of making this feature clear Mounted upon the shaft 42 and rotating therewith is a governor having resilient arms 65 carrying weights 66, these resilient arms being con nected to a disk 61 slidingly mounted upon the shaft 42. Coacting with this disk is an adjustable brake comprising a vertical shaft 68 carrying at its lower end a cam-shaped disk 69, the periphery of which bears against the face of the brake disk 61. The shaft 68 at its upper end carries a knurled head I0 whereby the shaft may be adjusted and also carries an arm 'II engageable with a stop I2 so as to limit the rotation of the shaft 68 in one direction. Surrounding the shaft 68 is a spiral spring 13 which bears at one end against the lower end of the bearing bracket I4 and at its other end bears against a collar 15 mounted upon the shaft 68; thus the shaft 68 is frictionally held in any adjusted position. The speed of rotation of the fan will be, of course, governed by the adjustment of the disk 69 relative to the disk 67. In other words, when the disk 69 is adjusted to the position shown in full lines in Figure 1, it is obvious that a brake will be applied to the disk 6'! which will very greatly impede the rotation of the shaft 42 and the fan will run at a relatively low speed. If, on the other hand, the disk 69 be turned to the dotted line position, it will permit of a much greater speed of the fan. Obviously the cam disk 69 might be made of relatively large size so as to have a large range of movement and permit a relatively large range of movement for the disk 61 which is acted upon by the governor balls.

The casing I6, as before stated, may be entirely closed or partly closed. I have shown the casing I6 as closed at its forward end by the plate 32 and at its rear end by a plate I6 which supports the bearing for the shaft I9. I have also shown an opening 11 in the casing which may be closed by a plate or left open as desired, this opening, when the plate is removed, permitting access to the interior of the fan casing for the purpose of oiling the machine if necessary or adjusting the gearing. By reason of the fact that the gear wheels 33 and 35 have pointed extremities bearing against the septum 20 and that the collar 45 has a tapered extremity bearing against said septum and because the hubs of the gear wheels 38 and 40 have pointed extremities bearing against the hubs of the adjacent gear wheels, friction is reduced to a minimum and the necessity of frequent oiling is done away with. The collars 45, 46 and 49 are adjustable upon their respective shafts to take up wear and the gear wheels 33, 38, 35 and 40 are also adjustable upon their shafts to take up wear. The respective pinions 34, 31 and 39 are relatively long to permit this longitudinal adjustment. Surrounding the fan is the usual cage I8 which is held in place upon the forward end of the casing by screws or otherwise, this casing I8 being skeletonic in form so as to act as a guard for the fan but permit air to pass around to the back of the fan and be projected through the front of the cage.

It will be seen that I have provided a very simple and effective motor operated fan which is not dependent upon electricity for its actuation but which unites a spring motor with it as one unitary whole so that the fan may be carried to any desired position from place to place and used wherever required. This fan may be mounted upon a wall or upon the floor or in any position which it is desired to use it. If it is not desired to have the fan oscillate, then the arm 59 is removed and, of course, then there will be no means whereby the casing I6 will be oscillated upon its pivot shaft I4. Obviously by rotating the shaft 28, the spring 23 may be wound up within the barrel 22 and then when the winding up operation has ceased, the spring will operate to rotate the barrel and through the gearing described rotate the fan.

It will be understood that in Figures 1 and 3 I have shown the braking disk 69 as being so set as to prevent the rotation of the disk 6! under the action of the spring. This cam disk tion of the fan at the speed desired. Obviously other means might be used for preventing the rotation of the barrel 22 and of the gearing connected therewith when it is desired to have the spring wound up but hold the fan stationary.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction and a certain particular arrangement of parts, I do not wish to be limited to this as obviously many changes might be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a motor operated fan, a motor, a fan shaft having operative driving connection with the motor, a centrifugal governor mounted upon the fan shaft and having a disk movable by the governor in one or the other direction in accordance with the speed of the fan shaft, an eccentrically mounted rotatable friction disk disposed in the path of movement of the first named disk, a shaft upon which the friction disk is mounted for adjustment, a collar carried by the shaft, and a yielding member friotionally contacting with said collar to hold the shaft and disk in selected adjusted position, said yielding member permitting rotation of the shaft to adjust the disk from one position to another.

2. A motor operated fan, a base, a supporting frame, a member mounted upon the frame for rocking movement, a shaft carried by the member to one side of the mounting of the member and disposed toward the base, the outer portion of the shaft being provided with a crank, an arm secured to the base and provided with a slot in which the crank of the shaft engages so that upon continuous rotation of the shaft the member will be rocked back and forth, means carried by the member for continuously rotating the shaft, and a fan shaft carried by the member and driven by the means for rotating the first shaft.

3. In a mechanism of the character described, a pair of parallel shafts, supporting means for the shafts including a plate, means for rotating one of said shafts whereby said shaft constitutes a drive shaft and the other shaft constituting a driven shaft, two gear wheels on the drive shaft one being adjustably engaged with the shaft for rotation therewith and having a hub provided with a tapered extremity bearing against the plate, the other gear wheel on the drive shaft being mounted for rotation therearound and having a hub formed with a tapered end bearing against the hub portion of the first gear wheel on the drive shaft, a collar longitudinally adjustable upon the drive shaft and having a tapered extremity bearing against the hub portion of the second gear wheel on the drive shaft to hold the two gear wheels in place upon the drive shaft with a minimum of frictional resistance, two gears on the driven shaft, one of said gears being a power take-off gear and in driven connection with the second gear on the drive shaft, the second gear on the driven shaft being in driving connection with the second gear on the drive shaft and in driven connection with the first gear on the drive shaft.

BENJAMIN F. HOBSON. 

